Glory restored in London with St. Pancras renovation

Reporting from London —— Londoners could never decide whether they loved or hated the huge red Gothic Revival St. Pancras railway station and hotel. A fantastical pile better suited to Hollywood than North London, the hotel was closed to the public in 1935; much later the site was used as a location for "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" and "Batman Begins."

A few years ago, the station was redeveloped as the terminus for Eurostar, the high-speed train that whisks passengers from London to Paris in just over two hours. Then this spring, after a meticulous $250-million, seven-year restoration of its high Victorian glories, the hotel reopened as the St. Pancras Renaissance, London's newest luxury lodging, operated by Marriott....